De Laurentiis, who won an Oscar in 1956 for Federico Fellini's "La Strada," and won another the next year for "Nights of Cabiria." He moved to the U.S. in the 1970s after the failure of his film studios in Rome. In Hollywood, he produced "Barbarella," "Conan the barbarian," the King Kong remake of 1976, and most recently "Hannibal," the sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs."

“I’ve been very lucky in my long life,” De Laurentiis said after receiving a lifetimee achievment award at the 2001 Oscars. “On three continents, in diverse cultures, through happy moments, not-so-happy moments, and moments as marvelous as this one, I’ve had the privilege of working with the cinema’s greatest masters.”